Author Archives: Björn

Calakmul

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From San Cristobal and the Chiapas highlands we continued down into the Jungle – to Mosquitos, high humidity and the Yucatan peninsula (with a swimming stop at the Agua Azul cascades).
After a night near Palenque we continued into the state of Campeche for an overnight stop on the right side of the gate to the Calakmul ruin site. Sunset was spent watching millions of bats descending from a dry cenote in the jungle near Calakmul.

The next day we had an early start to watch the sun rise over the jungle from top of a ruin at the Calakmul ruin site.

San Christobal de las Casas

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We continued up into the Chiapas highlands – to San Cristobal de las Casas.
We walked through the cobblestoned roads, visited the churches and the Indian handicraft markets.

On the second day we did a tour to surrounding villages – first to San Juan Chamula, then on to Zinacantán. During the trip we also got introduced to local live, religion and ceremonies.

Oaxaca

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The group did come together … and soon we were on the road heading into the real Mexico, with Oaxaca being our first destination.

Our second day in Oaxaca was spent an extensive tour around Oaxaca. During the morning we visited the Monte Alban ruin sites, next to Tule for a big tree (42m high, 14m in diameter) and lunch in a local “snackbar” in a market – before heading for the Mitla ruin site in the late afternoon. On the way we had the opportunity to get some insight in the production of rugs in Teotitlan del Valle and Mezcal  in Tlaculula.

Mexico City

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This year saw me heading out to Latin America the first time … for a three week trip around Mexico. The trip did start in Mexico City – some impressions below.

Yosemite

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Our last stop on the trek (before San Francisco) was the Yosemite NP. The first day mostly consisted of driving to Yosemite, passing Mono Lake and the Tioga Pass.
The second day was another hiking day – I did what is probably the most strenuous  day hike around – the Halfdome hike, a 17 mile or 27 km hike with an 1 mile or 1600m height gain on the way up and the same number in height loss for the way down – a hard, but really rewarding hike.
After coming back from the hike we joined the group for pizza – our last official tour dinner.

Las Vegas

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We arrived in the late afternoon of the 4th in Las Vegas, enough time to get fresh and have a great night out.
We had a late start the next morning, went into town for lunch buffet in the Bellagio – afterwards we had a crazy taxi drive to the Circus Circus for bungy jumping.
The next activity also took us high up – we went on top the Stratosphere tower, afterwards we walked the strip – pure Las Vegas amazement.

Cowboy Camp near Mexican Hat

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After the visit of the Monument Valley Park we were driven to Slim and Kody’s cowboy camp near Mexican Hat.
The cowboy camp included a sunset horseback ride (riding into the sunset on a horse – felt a bit like Lucky Luke), then a cowboy style dinner, line-dancing and roping lessons. We spent the night on the property, either in a Hogan, an indian tent or just outside. The next morning we were offered another horseback ride and a cowboy breakfast (breakfast tacos).